The chancellor has told the Treasury select committee that Britain should honour its obligations regardless of the progress of Brexit negotiationsKirsty Wigglesworth/AP

Britain must pay an exit bill of about £40 billion even if it does not get a trade deal with the EU, Philip Hammond said yesterday.

The chancellor angered Eurosceptics by telling the Treasury select committee that Britain should honour its obligations regardless of the progress of Brexit negotiations. The payments are likely to be spread over 40 years. He told MPs: “I find it inconceivable that we as a nation would be walking away from an obligation that we recognised as an obligation. That is not a credible scenario. That is not the kind of country we are. Frankly, it would not make us a credible partner for future international agreements.”

No 10 responded that “nothing was agreed until everything was agreed” and that…

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